Kansas Conservation Innovation Grants FY 2017 | USDA NRCS KS CIG 17 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS KS CIG 17 01

Kansas Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) FY 2017 is a discretionary grant opportunity under USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that focuses on advancing practical, innovative conservation solutions in Kansas agricultural settings. The core goal is to speed up the development and, especially, the adoption of new conservation approaches and technologies that protect and enhance natural resources while still supporting agricultural production. A central theme is leverage: using federal funds to help push environmental improvements further by pairing NRCS investment with partner expertise, capacity, and on-the-ground implementation.

This program is geared toward projects that move proven or promising conservation ideas into real-world use, rather than traditional lab-style research. CIG is meant to help bridge the gap between a conservation practice that is already known to work and the broader adoption needed for it to make a measurable difference at scale. Funded efforts are expected to result in the transfer of usable conservation tools, management systems, and innovative approaches (including market-based approaches) either into NRCS technical manuals and guidance or into wider private-sector use. In practical terms, that means the strongest projects are typically those that demonstrate, refine, and validate implementation pathways so that producers, service providers, and agencies can replicate them broadly.

CIG funding prioritizes innovative, on-the-ground conservation activities such as pilot projects and field demonstrations. The program generally does not support research, with a narrow exception for on-farm conservation research. That exception is defined very specifically: it must be designed to answer a concrete conservation-related question using a statistically valid approach, including appropriate replication and statistical analysis, and it must be conducted under real farm conditions using farm-scale equipment on farm fields. Even then, NRCS will only support research through CIG when it clearly stimulates innovative natural resource management approaches tied directly to agricultural production, reinforcing that the program is oriented toward application and adoption rather than basic discovery.

Projects may be single-year or multi-year, but they cannot exceed three years in duration. Awards under this particular Kansas FY 2017 notice had an award ceiling of $50,000, with an expectation of making about four awards. The opportunity is listed under CFDA (now Assistance Listing) 10.912 and falls within agriculture, environment, and natural resources program areas. The funding instrument is a grant, and the opportunity was posted with a creation date of January 12, 2017, with an original closing date of March 15, 2017.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of applicants operating in Kansas, reflecting the program’s emphasis on collaboration and practical implementation. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments (including cities, townships, special districts, and independent school districts), public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)), individuals, and small businesses. The overarching idea is to bring together communities, governments, and institutions to share skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities so that conservation innovations and the capacity to use them spread beyond a narrow set of specialists.

The selection process described in the notice follows a structured, multi-step review. First, proposals are screened for basic completeness and compliance with the solicitation requirements; incomplete or noncompliant submissions are removed from consideration and applicants are notified. Proposals that pass screening are then evaluated by a technical peer review panel using the proposal evaluation criteria referenced in the solicitation instructions (section V.B in the full notice). After technical review, proposals and peer review input move to the Kansas Review Board, which provides recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist. Final award decisions are made by the NRCS State Conservationist, meaning the process blends technical scoring with state-level program judgment about conservation priorities and practical impact for Kansas.

• The Department of Agriculture, Washington State Office in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Kansas Conservation Innovation Grants FY 2017" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 12, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 15, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA NRCS KS CIG 17 01

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